The rest of Monday and Tuesday of her first week went more than just smoothly for Judy, they were a blessing.
A generous amount of new friends from several different social circles were earned due to the bunny's outgoing and amicable personality. She seemed to have made quite a name for herself on campus as the brave freshman that stepped up to the predators of Alpha Preda like no prey mammal had done before her. Mammals started to call her the brave bunny of Hornstein Hall or the almighty Judy Hopps, which strangely made her proud as much as it made her laugh at how entirely silly it was. Other prey especially admired her for her display of assertiveness, something many believed set her apart from them.
Random strangers would high-five her between classes or snap a quick selfie with her in celebration of the gutsy confrontation; a star struck giraffe even bought her a coffee from Snarlbucks after insisting she deserved it. She was not at all used to the attention but the bunny knew better than to complain after all of her wishing for it.
Things were definitely looking up, however, she didn't fail to neglect the existence of a new enemy— a treacherous fox by the name of Nicholas Wilde, a predator whom was backed by his menacing group of even larger predators, a group apparently created to honor all predator species universally and continue their ancient traditions of alpha-male dominance and supposed brotherly unity.
Judy didn't care about Nick's overblown reputation in the trending fraternity or how he was revered as a force to be reckoned with by all the experienced upper-class students that witnessed his slow rise to fame.
To her he was just some smart-alecky jerk desperate for popularity at the expense of other more vulnerable mammals' self-esteems. For his distasteful stunt he didn't deserve praise or recognition, yet he received all of it, even acted like he owned the school. The doe wanted nothing more than to see his ridiculous reign over the university crash and burn like a field of infested crops. Yes, she mentally equated him to buggy crops. And rightfully so.
Thankfully she didn't see him again for the entire day on Tuesday but that didn't keep his name from popping up constantly in conversation. Clawhauser, Mabel, as well as other mammals didn't fail to update her on all the hearsay on campus which seemed to revolve around Alpha Preda and its popular members.
At the Tuesday afternoon PL meeting in the Diversity Centre, Clawhauser went on to tell Judy and Bellwether about the traditions of the campus, the social climate, and ultimately the newest, juiciest gossip. Apparently there was going to be a huge party exclusive to all those close to the university seniors, popular mammals of ZU included.
"Fang's the one throwing it this year- he's like the Alpha's ring leader, basically. He's also a super senior, been here for like 6 years and counting. Crazy right? Did I mention he looked at me once? Oh, it was so spiritual." Clawhauser sighed longingly, pretending to wipe a tear from his eye for dramatic effect. Nothing more to be expected from the cheetah, being a third year theatre major with a peculiar minor in forensic science.
"The party is gonna be at this place called The Jungle, it's this old house off campus that's been used for ZU parties for yeeaars. I tried to sneak in last time, and by-golly, that wasn't pretty. Got thrown out fast," Mabel laughed embarrassingly, curling a wad of dense dark wool by her ear.
"That's nice guys, but we still have to assign a VP, secretary, and treasurer before 5 pm today," Bellwether reminded with a stack of papers cradled in an arm and pen anxiously clicking between her hoof-tips. The newfound club would have access to their own little cubicle in the main office, desktop and all, once they assigned these positions and got some paperwork done. "I'll be the president, obviously. Judy, since you were the first person I invited to PL, wanna choose a position first?"
"Oh uh— sure," she cleared her throat, her mind still dwelling on the party house gossip.
The old Judy Hopps wouldn't have cared very much about a frivolous party thrown by pranksters, but this Judy felt much different now. She definitely wanted in on the event, although according to its exclusionary reputation she knew it wouldn't be likely. Secretly keeping tabs open in her mind on the interesting info the cheetah and black sheep shared, the bunny tried to seem focused on the responsible issue at hand.
"I'd like to be… treasurer." She nodded confidently, intentionally deciding on the easiest role that didn't require much more than authorizing a few signatures for club budget expenses here and there. Her decision earned her a confused look from the white lamb.
Clawhauser elected himself as the VP and Mabel wanted to be the secretary, which meant the club could finally finalize their paperwork. It all worked out despite Bellwether's mild hesitance to submit the papers, probably hoping that her roommate would be the VP, but it was all decided.
"Ooo, now we can advertise ourselves at Activities Night next week! We'll look so official," Clawhauser clapped elatedly. According to him, Activities Night was a university event where all the other clubs, teams, fraternities, and so on inhabited the gymnasium kind of like a convention to invite new members.
"Ha great, let's all mark that down in our planners then! What day is it on?" The pearl-colored sheep flapped open her small tablet and its respective pen to note it in her digital calendar.
"Next Wednesday, me thinks?" The darker sheep replied, her guess confirmed by an enthusiastic nod from Ben.
Judy pretended to mark it down in her own small planner, but instead scribbled solely within the box for Friday night: Party at The Jungle.
.o0o.
Times were definitely looking up for the bunny, but like all good things, it was only temporary.
In her fastidious desire to attend the Saturday night party she heard so much about, she tried to use her status as the brave bunny of Hornstein to hopefully land her an invite. Judy sent out instant messages to a few seniors she'd befriended or other mammals she suspected were probably in attendance, and although they truly admired her for her actions, they all declined. Some were nice about it, explaining that they weren't really allowed to let freshmen in, whereas others were more discourteous by rejecting her outright or sending her paragraphs of laughing emojis.
Wednesday morning arrived and Criminal Justice 101 was to start as usual, 8 am sharp. As feared the devious fox appeared again, much to the freshman bunny's dismay when she spotted him strutting into the lecture hall.
"Morning Nicky!" Some girl called out from the seats in an effort to seem either flirtatious or funny as he entered, causing the back of the class to stir in a chorus of comical cheers and laughter. Judy along with Bellwether only rolled their eyes, the former picking up her pencil to continue her sketch of flowers that were traditionally grown in the Hopps garden from sheer memory.
Nick arrogantly bowed towards his fan and pretended to tip an imaginary hat in her direction before he assumed his original seat behind the rabbit at the front row. His pretentious gesture alone caused a riot of chuckles and gag-worthy romantic sighs that filled the room.
"Missed me, cute stuff?" He asked in a provocatively low purr, a question clearly directed at his fellow student seated ahead of him.
"In your dreams, Wilde." Judy quipped without missing a beat, turning around to rival his beryl eyes with her own bold amethyst pair, clearly prepared to face him again this time. She wanted him to know that she wasn't intimidated by him in the slightest, in fact she was daring enough to endure whatever he wanted to throw her way.
"Aw, I'm sure you dream about me, Carrots. Pretty lewd of you to mention in public though," he hummed effortlessly as he fished a notebook out of his bag, a ratty black spiral book seemingly used before. "I'm touched, really. So in your fantasies do I top or bottom?"
"Ugh," the bunny scoffed in lieu of a solid rebuttal. He said nothing more, only grinning at her with lidded eyes as she spun forward in her chair with an expression of disgust. Judy cherished the moments of silence between herself and the predator behind her, although she couldn't shake off the feeling that he had his eyes on her still.
Nick repeated his previous offense by lifting his heels onto the back of her seat, but this time instead of antagonizing the cute tuft on her rear end, he started pushing her chair forward by extending his legs.
Judy's dark tipped ears perked up as the forward motion startled her. Her instinct was to resist his force by using her feet to hold her chair in place, but her toes were far from reaching the floor beneath her. Seriously? Being a short mammal at a time like this made her wish it wasn't so. Quickly she sunk down off her seat until her feet planted onto the floor, her paws holding the seat behind her as she used her heels to push back against him with a small grunt.
The bunny was stronger than he would've guessed since she managed to stop her seat from moving any further, much to his dismay. So he stopped his pushing and let her regain her seat.
Judy huffed, crossing her arms over her desk and laying her head down in frustration, her ears drooping against her back. Ignore him, and he'll get bored of you.
Meanwhile, Nick opened his notebook and flapped through the pages. Judy listened to the sound of a sheet being torn out of his book, which was then crumpled and tossed right onto her head.
At the very sensation of his aerial delivery, she wanted to groan out loud and attack him. What is this, high school?
The rabbit exhaled sourly as she sat up and took the balled up sheet. Quietly she opened it underneath her desk, spreading the message open over her lap. She peeked at it after a moment of deliberation.
Nice ass.
Her ears burned fiercely from a flurry of anger and embarrassment and she hid them from sight by holding the two blushing appendages down either side of her face. It took a few seconds for her to gather herself. Once the burning fled, she tore the paper and balled up the pieces.
Nick watched as she reacted and brought a dark furred paw into his muzzle to hold back a husky laugh.
What the hell was up with this guy? Judy was truly beginning to accept her fate of being a fox's punching bag. But this was different than Gideon's way of bullying, the stuff she was used to— like Gid's empty threats, occasional physical assault, taking things that didn't belong to him— but this was none of that. With Nick it was more like… some kind of twisted humor, maybe backhanded flirting?
Class begun soon thereafter once Dr. Castor entered, and Judy thanked the heavens for her arrival. The lesson this time around was pretty fast-paced and therefore difficult to follow, even to the overachieving bunny. She made sure to take an abundance of semi-coherent notes, all of which took up nearly four pages in her notebook until time had caught up; the professor dismissed the class with no class time to spare.
Things were definitely starting to pick up in her subjects and she had to remain sharp. That meant no entertaining any particularly vexing foxes. If she could help it.
On her way out of the classroom she made sure to toss Nick's inappropriate note into the trash, and after she had done so he made sure to match her stride. "I've got to thank you for making my prank the other night so easy to pull off. You're a real sport, Carrots."
Judy scowled up at him. "Shut up already— and you're gonna wanna refrain from calling me Carrots."
Nick's vulpine smile widened, a paw taking a secure hold of the book bag straps over his shoulder. "Not something I can help, but truly. We make a great team. Got to appreciate how hilariously dumb you are."
The ashen bunny stopped dead in her tracks in response to his words, now standing in front of the Wolfhartt building main doors. "What's your deal, huh? You get some sick rise torturing mammals, me in particular?" She asked in exasperation, feeling wholly targeted for no good reason, and quite frankly tired of it. Why did he have to pick her to antagonize? Didn't he know that bunnies bite back?
Nick paused, pretending to think before he nodded with a grin, indulging in her irritation. "Oh yeah. A hundred percent, Carrots." Oh, he knew—and he relished in her figurative biting.
"It's Judy," she damn near growled, and he couldn't halt the expression of hilarity spreading over his features like wild fire.
"My bad," he chirped a laugh, stepping into the sunlight. "I just naturally assumed you came from some little carrot-choked Podunk. Am I wrong?" He challenged in a sweet tone that betrayed the intention of his words, before picking up his own stride down the pavement and leaving her behind.
She didn't hesitate to follow him, the farm bunny completely riled up.
"Uh no, Podunk is in Deerbrooke County and I grew up in Bunnyburrow." She corrected him immediately, her head raised proudly as she kept up with his pace. "I'll have you know that I was top at my class in my high school."
He scoffed skeptically. "Let's see how a hick bunny fares in Zootopia University. In a criminal justice class, no less," he adjusted his white collar and stuffed his paws deep into his jacket pockets, breaking eye contact with her to wink towards a group of on looking girls.
"E-excuse me?" Judy gasped, her fists clenching as they started to descend concrete stairs to the basement of another academic building. She shot daggers through her vision at him, unbelieving of how outwardly speciest he was being.
"Tell me if this story sounds familiar," he begun as he extended both paws and moved them in a rainbow-shape in front of him. "Naive little hick with good grades and big ideas decides, 'hey look at me, I'm gonna attend Zootopia University, where predators and prey attend in harmony and sing Kumbaya!' Only to find - whoopsie - we don't all get along," he flashed her a stubborn look that was beyond amusement— it was complacency with the stunned look of hurt on her face. "And that dream of becoming a college graduate? Double whoopsie! She's a drop out," he spoke confidently, Judy frowning at his verbal transgressions. "And whoopsie number three-sie? No one cares about her or her dreams."
He started to walk ahead of her again, and she combatted his speed by keeping up.
"Soon enough those dreams die and our bunny has no choice but to go back home with that cute fuzzy-wuzzy tail between her legs," he swayed his tail mockingly with his words, "to become... You're from Bunnyburrow, is that what you said? So how about a carrot farmer? Does that sound about right?" He deadpanned at her, then turned left down a hallway.
Speechless, she stood there processing his words, foot tapping restlessly beneath her, before the snowballing rage caught up. "Hey!" Judy sprinted forward. "No one tells me what I can or can't be!" She stood her ground and pursued him, earning a curious look from the fox and others nearby who overheard her rigid voice. "Especially not some jerk who never had the guts to try and be anything more than some lame frat punk!"
Nick blinked as he acknowledged her, laughing genuinely at how feisty she sounded. He was almost impressed, just like that night he first met her and she spoke to him the same way, absolutely fearless. It was cute. Kind of a turn on, if he was honest with himself.
"All right, look." He leaned forward with his paws on his knees, giving a condescending smile down at her as her nose twitched uncontrollably. "Everyone comes to Zootopia University thinking they can major in anything they want, be anything they want. Well, you can't. You can only be what you are," he brought his paws up and pointed to his chest. "Sly fox," he then referred to Judy, "Dumb bunny."
Judy grimaced, her teeth bared almost like she was some kind of infuriated feral animal. "I. Am not. A dumb bunny."
"Riiight. And you're not late for class."
Judy gasped, looking at her phone to verify it. He was right, it was 9:15 am. A whole fifteen minutes late for Psychology 101, all thanks to him.
Without further refutation she sprinted off.
"You'll never fit in. You're a cute freshman, though. Maybe a jobless graduate one day. Hang in there!" Nick chuckled aloud after her, watching her scurry madly to class practically on all fours.
.o0o.
Today sucked.
Judy hung her head all day after the demeaning encounter, the fox's words spinning behind her skull over and over.
The remainder of her afternoon consisted of joining in on a small study group with Bellwether and others in the library. They noticed her glum mood but she denied it, bluffing with the best smile she could conjure. When her study buddies called it a night, Judy stayed behind until 8 pm to just be alone with her thoughts.
Soon enough those dreams die and our bunny has no choice but to go back home with that cute fuzzy-wuzzy tail between her legs!
She let her head fall onto the textbook she had splayed open, exhaling into it.
"I am a good student, I am a good student," she murmured tiredly into the pages before recognizing the sensation in her stomach- grumbling. She figured she should probably eat something soon.
Judy made a stop by a late night cafeteria called the Veggie Grill for dinner. Her meal consisted of stir fried veggies, a black bean wrap, and tomato soup. She would have opted for some carrots, but they were nowhere near the quality of the produce from the Hopps farm. She also considered a fruit smoothie, but wanted to be frugal with her meal plan, so she opted for a cheaper option, a bottle of water instead. The bunny scarfed her meal down quick, almost angrily, earning her some odd stares from a nearby table of seated impala.
Then it was off to the dormitory where a soothing shower awaited her. Underneath the showerhead a naked bunny hummed softly along with some music that played aloud from her phone, letting the hot water flood her senses. It seemed to do the trick; her muscles eased and she felt any previous burdens simply melt away for the time being.
Judy stepped into the fur drier for a few minutes and then into a long comfortable sleeping gown with an embroidered carrot symbol on the front. Courtesy of her mother, of course.
Once her teeth were cleaned and the fur of her ears were brushed, she stood in front of the bathroom mirror, giving a quick tilt of her torso so she could inspect her rear end in her reflection. She silently observed her round shape for a moment until she felt a poke on her shoulder.
The rabbit turned to look over her left shoulder, seeing no one, then instinctively turned to the other side to see a humored, familiar skunk.
"Hey Hopps," the fourth floor RA greeted with a laugh after taking the bunny slightly off guard.
"Hah," Judy turned to face her a bit abruptly. "Hey there. How goes it?"
"It goes," Pepper nodded warmly before her friendly demeanor became serious. "Just wanted to let you know that the other resident assistants found out that you were involved in that shitty Alpha Preda prank."
Judy's stomach sank in realization of the potential consequences. "Oh no," she gasped, "It was a mistake— that stupid frat tricked me into letting one of them in, but I know it was wrong and I'm so sorry—"
"Hold your horses, farm girl," Pepper cracked a grin as she shook her head, leaning back against the sink counter. "No one said that you're in trouble. I'm letting you get away with it. But just this one time, 'kay?" She wagged a black and white furred finger.
Judy's sighed in relief and leapt forward to bring the skunk tightly for quick hug, before realizing how entirely awkward that was, and stumbled back. "Oh my goodness, thank you! I don't even know what to say… sorry for the hug, I'm just really grateful." Her arms retreated flat against her sides.
Pepper choked out a snort, fixing the white bang over her left eye that became frizzed with Judy's manhandling. "Don't mention it. Just stay clear from those guys, they're all a bunch of trouble makers. Wilde literally just earned his second strike at the end of last semester, all to win some silly loyalty points with the Alpha preds," she rolled her eyes as she spoke about the fraternity with distaste.
To Judy's knowledge, a strike was basically a recorded warning the school gave those who broke a rule. Like a baseball game, three strikes, and you're out. Out of ZU, that is. Expelled permanently.
"They're all pathetic. Surprised Nick got away with this last prank. I guess no one wants to rat him out and get on the frat's bad side."
Judy made a mental note of what Pepper mentioned about Nick's record and thanked the skunk RA a final time before excusing herself for bed, where she decided to reread and highlight some lines in the ZU student handbook with an orange carrot highlighter. She did so with the flashlight mode on her phone so as not to disturb the sleeping Bellwether, who snored quietly underneath her pillow of hay.
The determined rabbit managed to discover some rather interesting things from the small book, stuff she knew would definitely come in handy.
Wilde didn't know what hell he had coming for him.
.o0o.
On Friday, the tables would turn.
Judy fully anticipated facing him Friday morning after Criminal Justice and was actually bummed that he was a no-show. It was pure luck that she happened to spot him from across the ZU main cafeteria late inthe evening, entering with a flock of Alpha predators just as she finished her meal with the PL group.
"I'm going in," Judy murmured to herself, her friends giving her puzzled looks as she stood from their table.
They watched curiously as she started to make her way towards the frat, flashing an innocent smile as some of the Alpha preds now seated at a long table began to notice her advance.
One Alpha member, a small fennec fox with large ears, elbowed the taller red fox seated beside him in the shoulder to get his full attention. "Yo. Hey, look. It's the bunny."
Nick turned to look, realizing she was standing right behind him, and his usual care-free expression dropped flat.
"Oh. We were just talking about you… Big-Booty-Judy," Nick pursed his lips, less than thrilled to see her. He had come up with the name and shared his little creation with the guys who were definitely amused by it. She did say to refrain from saying 'Carrots,' after all.
"Ha ha, actually no, the name's Judy Hopps." The bunny kept composure as she corrected him. "I'm actually here to ask you to invite me to the party tonight." She didn't even stutter as she asked so straightforwardly, her voice sickly sweet.
Nick barked a laugh.
"Uh, can't you see I'm in the middle of lunch?" He lifted a half of his fish filet sandwich. "Anyway, there's no way a freshman could be invited, especially you. So yeah, you're cramping my style here, go ahead and hop along fluff. I think there's a carrot field somewhere that needs tending," he turned his head away and shooed her away with a paw, causing a mild rumble of titters from the table.
Judy's easy going smile flattened into a taut line, her brows coming together as she sighed. "Fine. Then I'll just have to do this the hard way." She revealed the student handbook that she had been holding behind her back, presenting the important sections she highlighted in neon orange to all that looked her way. "Nicholas Wilde, you're going to be expelled."
His brows arched as his annoyed expression shifted into one of contained humor, glancing over the document she held like it was trivial. "Awww, for what? Hurting your feewings?" The fox's patronizing words slipped through visibly sharp teeth as he draped his elbow over the back of his chair.
"Fraternity hazing," she hummed pleasantly. "Yeaaah, seems every mammal on campus has video evidence of your little prank the other night, which is enough to prove you were the one behind it. I mean, I am just a dumb bunny, but according to your alleged academic record you've already gotten two strikes."
In disbelief, he took the handbook from her and skimmed over it, dread filling his features as his dark-tipped ears dropped.
She watched gloriously as he froze in horror and swallowed thickly. "Unfortunately, if I ratted you out that would mean you'd get a third strike. Immediate expulsion," she tutted as she leaned closer to his face, studying him as he internally panicked.
"You were in on it too!" He hissed, the two practically nose to nose. "We'd both get strikes."
"My first, and your last. Not exactly worth becoming a drop out, huh?" Eyes narrowed, she lightly hinted at his prediction that she'd be the one to fail. Oh the irony. "So if you want to remain a student at ZU, you're going to help me get into this party tomorrow night," she lulled as she tilted her hips, resting her paws on them confidently to physically display her clear victory over the fox. "It's called a hustle, sweetheart."
Nick was as disturbingly stunned as he was pissed, frowning as she smirked, his left ear twitching as he rattled his brain for a possible methodical escape from the corner she pushed him in. But it was no use and he realized it, in this moment he was at a complete loss for words and at the mercy of the prey standing before him. The King of ZU had met its match.
Checkmate.
"She hustled you…" The tawny fox beside him started to chuckle, then the rich sound crescendoed. "She hustled you good!"
The rest of the table started to laugh, the most rowdy and contagious of the laughter erupting from the fennec fox himself.
Nick's muzzle twisted into a grimace as he tried to disregard his fraternity basking in the glory of Judy's hustle. Green eyes glared at the infuriatingly cute bunny that waited on the admittance of his surrender, a surrender he truly didn't want to deliver. But he couldn't get another strike. He was already in two deep, and he didn't intend for his time at ZU to be cut short by some annoying, frustrating, dumb little bunny. The fox sighed heavily, shoulders sinking in his apparent defeat. "Alright, alright. You got me, fluff. What do you want, a friggin' invite?" He asked through gritted teeth, music to her ears.
"I want you make it up to every mammal you soaked with your immature prank. We all get to go to The Jungle. I get to bring who ever I want, and as many as I want. For free."
He stared at her for a long moment, surprised at how completely serious she was which confirmed how completely fucked he was. He looked over at Fang the hyena, who watched on in amusement and didn't protest nor attempt to defend him. "Fine! I'll make it up to all of you by inviting you losers to one of the biggest, baddest parties of the year. As long as you or any one of your lame-o friends don't rat me out or ruin the fun."
Although Judy wondered if she should milk this opportunity further and make him regret ever crossing paths with her to begin with, it simply wasn't in Judy's good nature. "Deal. Once your promise is met, then I'll consider not squealing to the university president," she spoke in a velvety voice, her arms crossed and ears high.
He glared at her until his face lightened up. "It's not exactly… a place for a cute little bunny," he warned in a thoughtful, flirtatious tone, leaning in his seat so it rocked on its hind legs towards her.
Judy's brows fell slightly. "Don't call me cute. Now, give me some party details."
Nick laughed. "O-kayy, you're the boss. So uh, how about I get your number? I'll text you later on tonight, your group will meet up with mine, and we'll dazzle you with just the best college weekend any newbies at ZU have ever experienced." She didn't hesitate with taking out her phone and exchanging it with his. He smoothly entered his contact info as she entered hers on his larger phone, the screen on his cracked. "There ya go. See you tonight, Carrots."
Judy watched him skeptically before taking her phone and handbook back from him, then turned to make her leave. Nick noticed the confident sway of her hips and dance of her tail poof as she confidently strode off and he cursed himself for admiring them when he should, in fact, be hating her guts.
The rabbit squealed to herself, her stride becoming a hoppy-leap as the successful confrontation began to sink in. She actually did it.
The fox was under her command now, and even his frat didn't bother to try and help pry him out of the sticky situation she had put him in. There wasn't a remorseful or pitying bone in her entire body. With his help, she was going to climb her way up the social ladder and live out the best college experience possible. Whatever lay in wait for her, whatever madness she was going to throw herself into, she was more than willing take on. The Jungle was now expecting its first audacious freshman rabbit.
Judy paused by the cafeteria exit and looked down at her phone to inspect his contact info, violet eyes rolling humorously after reading the contact name he had saved for himself:
Yours truly.
A/N:
Thank you all for giving my new story a shot! All the compliments I've been receiving so far are super encouraging and make me look forward to writing more :D Hope you enjoyed reading Judy finally besting the fox! I know he's pretty annoying right now, I don't intend on keeping him that way. Just had to show that side of him.
Been debating on saying 'freshmammals' instead of 'freshmen' but it just doesn't flow as well. Expect trashy parties ahead! Haha, and also don't neglect the rating, I definitely intend to make things a little less PG from here on out. Peace!
